Organizers of the annual Georgetown Wooden Boat Show are taking exception to some remarks made recently by Georgetown Police Chief Dan Furr about the October event.
At a recent Georgetown City Council retreat, the panel was discussing the possible creation of a new ordinance to govern special events in the city. During that discussion, Furr talked about some incidents that occurred at this year’s
Wooden Boat Show.
He told council officers had to make several alcohol-related charges at the event.
Furr said state law allows beer and wine, with the proper permits, to be sold on public property but liquor falls under a different category. He said the sale and consumption of liquor must be contained within four walls and no one can be on the streets with that type of alcoholic beverage. He said the organizers of the Wooden Boat Show were granted permission by the state to serve beer, wine and liquor inside the big tent that was erected for the event.
“The people in the sponsor tent opened the sides of the tent and we had a big problem with people holding drinks walking in and out and they could not be on the streets with the drinks,” Furr said. “We warned them arrests would be made if they were outside the tent and some of them said they didn’t care.”
Citations were issued to several people and one man, who apparently had too much to drink, was arrested for disorderly conduct.
There were also several instances, Furr said, of people walk
ing from the restaurants onto the Harborwalk boardwalk with alcohol. He said it was the first time there has been a significant problem at the boat show, which has been held for 17 years.
The Harbor Historical Association (HHA), which organizes the Wooden Boat Show and the Big Blow Auction which is held the night before the boat show, issued a written response which states the auction and boat show are two separate events.
The letter states the arrests referred to by Furr did not occur at the boat show, but at the auction.
